Skip to content 
This week, the Intellectual Property Office celebrated a remarkable milestone: 150 years of trade mark registration in the United Kingdom. To mark the occasion, a public poll revealed the brands the British public holds dearest — Rolls-Royce, Radio Caroline, Twinings, Cadbury, Bass, Burberry, the Transport for London roundel, Calpol, Mini and the BBC.
Look carefully at that list. Every single one started small. Bass was a Burton-upon-Trent brewery before its red triangle became the first registered trade mark on 1 January 1876. Cadbury began as a single Birmingham grocer’s shop selling cocoa and drinking chocolate. Twinings was a tea house on the Strand. Burberry opened as a gabardine outfitter in Basingstoke. The Mini was designed as a response to a fuel crisis.
The lesson for every business owner reading this is straightforward: the brands we now treat as untouchable national institutions were once start-ups, family businesses, or one-person operations. What separated them from thousands of forgotten competitors wasn’t just a good product. It was the decision, often taken early, to protect the name and identity that customers came to trust.
Why 150 years of registration still matters to your business
A trade mark is, at its core, a promise. It tells the consumer that the goods or services carrying it come from a particular source, made to a particular standard. The IPO now safeguards more than 2.5 million marks, and the number of applications filed each year continues to break records. That isn’t a coincidence. Businesses of every size have recognised that in a marketplace increasingly fought out online, through social media and across international borders, the name above the door is often the single most valuable asset a company owns.
A registered trade mark gives you an enforceable legal monopoly over your brand in relation to the goods or services you have registered it for. Without registration, you are relying on the common law tort of passing off, which is expensive, evidentially demanding and uncertain. Registration, by contrast, gives you a dated, public record of your rights.
Three practical lessons from the iconic ten
Cadbury, Bass and Rolls-Royce did not wait until they were household names to protect their brands. They registered when they were still growing, because they understood that a brand is worth protecting from the moment customers start recognising it. By the time imitators arrive, it is often too late — or very expensive — to put matters right. Every small business owner should be thinking about trade mark protection as part of setting up, not as a luxury for later.
Some of the most powerful marks on the IPO’s list are not words at all. The Burberry check, the TfL roundel, the shape of a Mini, and Cadbury’s particular shade of purple — these are non-word marks that took decades of consistent use to establish. UK law allows you to register not only names and logos but, in the right circumstances, colours, shapes, packaging and even sounds. If your business has a distinctive visual identity, it is worth considering whether more than just the name should be on the register.
Trade marks are registered in classes that correspond to particular goods or services. Cadbury is not just protected for chocolate; the brand extends across beverages, confectionery, and a range of related goods. Twinings is protected across teas and related food and drink products. Getting the classes right is one of the most common areas where DIY applications go wrong. Register too narrowly, and a competitor can legally use your name on an adjacent product. Register too broadly, and you risk objections, wasted fees, or future vulnerability to revocation for non-use.
The brands that didn’t make the list
For every iconic mark on the IPO’s top ten, there are thousands of businesses whose names have been forgotten, lost, or taken by someone else. Some lost their identities because they never registered. Others registered poorly. Some allowed their marks to become generic through lack of enforcement. It is worth remembering that “escalator”, “aspirin” and “thermos” were all once protected brand names. The register is not a one-time exercise. Iconic status comes from consistent, protected, defended use over many years.
The encouraging news for SMEs is that the barrier to entry has never been lower. The IPO’s online filing system is accessible, the fees remain modest compared to the value at stake, and professional assistance from a specialist firm can make the difference between a well-drafted application that protects the business for decades and a flawed one that invites opposition or refusal.
What has changed in 150 years — and what hasn’t
Trade mark law has evolved dramatically since Bass & Co. filed that red triangle in 1876. It now accommodates digital services, software brands, influencer identities, e-commerce platforms and, increasingly, issues raised by artificial intelligence and the metaverse. The Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Trade Marks Rules 2008 frame a modern, flexible system that is designed to grow with business.
What hasn’t changed is the underlying principle: a trade mark is there to guarantee origin and protect reputation. Every brand on the IPO’s list earned its place by doing something consistently well for long enough that the public came to trust the mark as a shorthand for that quality. Your brand can do the same — but only if the foundations are laid properly.
Your next step
The businesses that will be celebrated on the 200th anniversary of UK trademark registration in 2076 are being founded right now. Some of them are yours. The question is whether, when that day comes, the brand you have built will still be yours, or whether it will belong to someone who filed while you were still thinking about it.
At TrademarkRoom, we help businesses at every stage — from first-time applicants filing a single UK mark to established companies managing international portfolios across the EU, US and beyond. If you are not sure whether your brand is properly protected or whether you are ready to file for the first time, we offer a straightforward, fixed-fee approach and expert advice from a specialist team.
Get in touch with Trademarkroom today to find out how to protect your brand — because the next iconic British mark has to start somewhere.
tmr@trademarkroom.com
